Eating Seafood off the Table with your Bare Hands is Super Cheap at Kilang Bateri, JB

During the stressful PSLE month of September, we managed to sneak off to Johor Bahru for 1 night of major de-stress.

Well, the timing could not have been more perfect as the wifey and I had long wanted to visit Kilang Bateri, which previously was an old 'Eveready' battery factory but now turned into a container-style hip and highly instagrammable shopping and food district.

Located at Jalan Tampoi in Bandar Baru Uda, Kilang Bateri is just slightly over a 30-minute drive from either Woodlands or Tuas Checkpoint and is known for its retro-feel and hipster cafes. And judging from first impressions, I can understand why it is so popular with the younger crowd.

Most of the cafes are housed in containers and basked under waves of fairy lights. There is a very grungy feel to it, and it doesn't exactly feel like I'm in Johor Bahru.

I believe most of the eateries open from the late afternoon onwards so it will be better to head there for dinner. Even then, we were at Kilang Bateri on a Friday evening and it was not packed at all.

Either it is still a hidden gem, or the people in JB really hang out at a much later time. Not that I am complaining, because I really hate crowds.

As you can see from the photos, there is really no shortage of restaurants at Kilang Bateri. In fact, there is even a huge food court housed in the main container unit, which looks like a super hipster food joint.

I tell you, even if I have 4 stomachs like a cow, I cannot possibly try ALL of the food there!

In the same container also lies a shopping section which is essentially a rojak mix of shops. Nothing spectacular, so my advice is don't need to waste your time here.

But if you have young kids, there is a mini amusement centre which may appeal to them.

Apparently, Ayd still digs it? LOL.

There are arcade machines, kiddie rides and even a small bouncing castle.

Okay, but all of the above were not the reasons why we went to Kilang Bateri.

This was.

Formerly known as i-Shell Out, it is now re-branded to Shalloo but its menu remains the same. It is basically similar to the Louisiana Seafood concept - much like the Crab in Da Bag and Dancing Crab restaurants here - where seafood is poured directly on the table and you eat directly off it... using your bare hands.

Yes, that last bit thrilled the monkies to bits for some reason. I don't think they had ever used their hands for a proper full meal (other than when they were toddlers) so they were relishing the meal with their hands. Maybe it does taste better this way?

The great thing about Shalloo is it offers a variety of seafood flavours ranging from sambal to garlic. So if your kids are not able to take spicy food, just choose the non-spicy option.

But even for the sambal flavour, the monkies found that the sambal was actually more sweet and tangy than spicy. So it was not overpoweringly spicy - which probably explained why the sambal lala (clams) were wiped out in record time.

Besides the lala, we also had a serving each of fish fillet (not too bad), chicken (good), squid (average), bamboo clam (not good), vegetables and corn.

If we were to eat all of these in Singapore, I think the bill will be at least $60 to $80. At Shalloo? Everything came up to RM112. That's about 36 Singapore dollars!!!!!

Oh-em-gee.

No wonder the monkies have been nagging me to bring them to Shalloo again ever since.

For once, I have to agree with them.



Useful Information

Kilang Bateri
Address: No 83, Jalan Tampoi, 81200 Johor Bahru, Johor Darul Ta’zim
Opening hours: 12pm - 12am daily
GPS COORDINATE: Latitude : 1.50434  Longitude: 103.71396

Shallo Restaurant (Opening hours - 5pm - 12am)